


puzzle pieces

by hachimitsuto



Category: ASTRO (Band), Oh My Girl (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-07-17 17:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16100267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hachimitsuto/pseuds/hachimitsuto
Summary: When her other half finds his own other half, Jiho learns to be on her own.





	puzzle pieces

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by a japanese movie 'heroine shikkaku'. a mess and unbeta-ed

It’s always just the two of them, Jiho and Mingyu. From hiding one’s crime scene to offering the other a shoulder to cry on when their subject of affection crushed their heart, they are the best accomplices and the best of friends, and they are always there for each other. Shared secrets, inside jokes and almost telepathic mutual understanding. Some things will always be theirs, and it will always be just the two of them.  
  
Or at least that’s what she thought.  
  
Not all things go according to our plans and wishes, and not everyone will stay by our side for the rest of our lives, no matter how much we cherish them. Jiho learned this the hard way.  
  
  
  
  
That morning, Jiho wakes up at her usual time. She routinely goes for a shower, takes her time drying her long hair and putting on the uniform. Nothing is out of ordinary, until she leaves her room to have breakfast.  
  
“Is Mingyu still sleeping?” she asks her mother, who is at the kitchen sink doing dishes, while taking a large bite of her with a super generous helping of strawberry jam.  
  
Mingyu always has troubles waking up in the morning. He can sleep soundly through three alarms, which often lands him in trouble at school. It doesn’t even surprise his homeroom teacher anymore when he shows up late.  
  
Jiho is almost ready to ambush him in his room when her mother turns off the tap. “Mingyu’s already left.”  
  
The reply catches her by surprise and she almost chokes on the toast that she’s been chewing. “What?”  
  
“He woke up really early today and left when you were still in the shower.”  
  
She can’t believe her ears. “Are you sure that’s really Mingyu? Your son Kim Mingyu, not some imposter who’s pretending to be him?”  
  
Her mother only laughs in return. Still finding it hard to take in the information, Jiho heads to her brother’s room to check with her own eyes if he’s really gone. And it’s true. “Heol,” she exclaims, both shocked and upset. She’s never felt so betrayed.  
  
What upsets her more than being left behind that morning, is not finding Mingyu at his seat when she finally arrives at their classroom. His backpack is right there, which means he’s elsewhere. “Have you seen Mingyu?” she asks Jaehyun who sits behind her.  
  
“Dunno,” he shrugs. “I just arrived five seconds ago.”  
  
Jiho clicks her tongue in annoyance, not at her classmate but at her own brother, and continues to sulk on her own while anticipating Mingyu’s return. She’s all ready to headlock him for answers to her countless questions, like what could possibly be the reason for him to leave his bed that early and where he’s been all morning. Unfortunately for her (and fortunately for him), he doesn’t return to the class until seconds before the bell ring. And so, all she can do for now is to send him deathly glares from across the class, which he doesn’t even notice because he’s too busy writing something which she’s sure isn’t notes.  
  
She can only wait until lunch break to launch an attack on her brother, which won’t be until hours later. The clock has never run slower.  
  
As soon as the bell finally rings, marking the beginning of recess, Mingyu gets up and heads to the door at a near inhuman speed. This time, however, Jiho is faster.  
  
“KIM MINGYU, YOU STOP RIGHT NOW!” she yells from her seat.  
  
Her brother is not the only one who freezes at his spot, because almost all their other classmates stop as well. Everyone falls silent and looks at her, and as Jiho makes her way towards Mingyu, she can even hear Seokmin’s voice whispering, “Man, he’s in trouble.”  
  
She’d always been the one who towered over her brother and loved that she could use that to her advantage. Unfortunately, puberty means over the past year Mingyu has shot up and grown taller. A lot taller. Still, Jiho doesn’t let their new height difference hold her back, and crosses her arm while looking at him sternly.  
  
“Where are you going?” she begins interrogating.  
  
“Uh, lunch?”  
  
“You never rushed like this.”  
  
“I’m starving,” he replies, quite smoothly. “Um, I heard the menu today is beef stew so I don’t want to get to the cafeteria quickly before it runs out.”  
  
Mingyu touches his nose with the back of his index finger twice, and seeing that makes her grin. “No, it’s not. Jimin’s on duty this week and she told me today it’s _dwenjang_.”  
  
It’s not the truth. In fact Jimin is not even on duty, but his eyes are starting to quiver. He recovers quickly, however. “In that case I’ll just go get the pizza bun. You know it runs out fast so I should hurry. Bye!”  
  
This time, he manages to get away from her fast enough and she’s left gripping air. In frustration, she huffs and crosses her arms again, before an idea comes to her. She decides to tail behind.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The cafeteria is already packed despite the fact it’s only been less than five minutes since the bell rung. She cranes her neck to look for her brother while standing in line. The menu today is neither beef nor _dwenjang jjigae_ , but chicken curry. Not that she minds though. She’s more focused on finding Mingyu.  
  
That task, unfortunately, is not easy. On other days, she could easily spot him amongst the crowd thanks to his height, tall even when he was sitting down. Today, on the other hand, he is nowhere to be seen. Not at the third table from the back by the pillar that he likes. Not at the table that the boys in their class are sitting at either.  
  
She wanders around the area for a bit after getting her meal, even ignored Yoobin who is waving enthusiastically to call her over to the table. Jiho heads outside instead to look around the courtyard, although Mingyu never liked to hang out here, just in case.  
  
And she found him.  
  
Mingyu is right there at one of the picnic benches. She doesn’t if that surprises her more, or the fact that he’s with a girl. Smiling, laughing, looking so blissful while sharing lunch.  
  
Jiho drops her tray, along with her heart.  
  
  
  
  
Okay **,** maybe she’s being a little too dramatic. But then again, everybody who knows her knows how much she dotes on her brother.  
  
“We came from the same wound,” she would say. “Conceived at the same time.” _Jiho, that’s kinda gross_ , he would protest. “And came to the world together. Well, I was four minutes earlier, but still. And I even let you call me by my name even though dad told you to call me noona!”  
  
She thinks it’s only natural that as twins, they would do and share everything together. Everything. No secret must be kept between them. Even when she had her period for the first time, he was the person she ran to in tears instead of their mother. She even cried for days thinking that since she hit puberty first, she was leaving him behind.  
  
He could be her worst enemy at times (especially that one time when he cut her doll’s hair claiming that bob hair was trendy), but at the end of the day, he was still the person she went to on the nights when she couldn’t fall asleep after watching a scary movie. Mingyu was her best(est) friend.  
  
And yet, this happened.  
  
She stares at him, but he doesn’t look at her even once. The worst thing that could happen while sulking at someone is when that someone you’re sulking at doesn’t even realize what’s going on.  
  
As far as Mingyu is concerned, there’s nothing that he should really be concerned about. He’s laughing at the comedy show on TV without any idea of the storm that is currently inside his twin sister’s heart, even as they sit on the same couch. There goes the theory that twins can understand each other even without using words.  
  
“You need to stop being so obsessed about it,” Yoobin tells Jiho the next day when Mingyu ditches her for his girlfriend again after the final bell.  
  
“I’m not obsessed about it!” she gets defensive, but of course her friends don’t buy it.  
  
“You think we don’t know that you’ve been investigating his girlfriend?” Minkyung quips in. Jiho shoots the deadliest glare she could muster despite the statement being true, but the former counters back with a sweet grin. She's never hated Minkyung more.  
  
It is true that she's been going around collecting information on her brother's girlfriend, who she’s learned goes by the name Mina. She also found out that she's actually a Japanese, and whose Korean fluency is probably much better than Mingyu's. Thanks to her classmate Bang Chan, Jiho also found out that Mina scored 96 in her last test. These informations made her wonder why such a refined girl would want to waste her time dating such a sloppy boy like Mingyu.  
  
“He's nice! Remember when I had severe menstrual cramps once and he carried me to the infirmary?” Yoobin argues when Jiho mentions the last part.  
  
Jiho rolls her eyes. “Please. He had a crush on the school nurse at that time so it was an excuse to see her.”  
  
“He’s pretty smart. You would know that better since you copy his homework all the time.”  
  
“Not _all_ the time! I only do it when I forgot to do mine,” she defends herself. She thinks she hears Minkyung murmuring _which is all the time_ under her breath, but Jiho’s not about to pick on that.  
  
“The basketball team has been trying to scout him. They never scout anyone.”  
  
“That's because he's uselessly tall.”  
  
“And that’s also a plus point. Who doesn't like tall guys?” Yoobin goes on. “And he's good looking, okay. I never said it out loud because he's your twin brother.”  
  
“What does that suppose to mean?” Jiho’s knitted eyebrows form a line as she frowns at her friend. “Bae Yoobin, do you actually _like_ him?”  
  
Yoobin’s eyes widen. “Oh my god, no offense but liking a boy who has a sister like you? Never. You’re obsessed and clingy - are you aware that that’s the worst combination ever?”  
  
“You need to give Mingyu's girlfriend some credit. If I was her I'd fear for my life every day,” Minkyung adds, making it worse.  
  
“First, my own twin betrayed me. Now, my friends,” Jiho grumbles, which only makes the other two laugh. “Okay, seriously, I’m not obsessive. It’s not like I plan to live with him forever,” says Jiho. “I’m just… sad.”  
  
“Because you feel unimportant?”  
  
She leans forward and rest her head sideways on the desk. “That, and I feel like I’ve been forgotten,” she answers in a voice that’s almost a whisper. Jiho feels a gentle hand patting her head and lets herself feel comforted as she glances over at Mingyu’s empty seat.  
  
Even though they don’t go home together everyday, sometimes he would wait up and ask her if she wants to go get some snacks with him after school. _Tteokbokki_ always tastes better with him around, especially when he pays for ice-cream afterwards.  
  
She stares at the page in her planner containing all the information she’s collected about Mina for the past week, then exhales a loud sigh. “Am I that insignificant after all?” she asks aloud to no one in particular. Not that anyone was around, anyway. Everyone, her friends and Mingyu included, have left except for Minghao, who is on duty. He’s still in the middle of cleaning the blackboard when he turns to her in confusion.  
  
He blinks. “Are you talking to me?’  
  
“It’s supposed to be just me and him, together, forever. And yet there he was, replacing me with some other girl so easily like I don’t matter. Like I’m nothing!”  
  
Minghao blinks, turns away and mumbles something else under his breath while picking up his bag to leave, but she doesn’t bother to find out what it is.  
  
Not too long after that, she too gets up and heads out of the classroom, only to bump into someone as she turns the corner, which consequently causes her to drop the book. Her forehead collided right on that person’s shoulder, so it hurts quite a bit.  
  
“Ow!” she reaches for her forehead with both hands. “Watch where you’re going!”  
  
“You’re the one who came out of nowhere!” the other person retorts.  
  
“You should’ve stopped when you saw me!”  
  
“I _would_ have stopped if I actually saw you.”  
  
Irritated, she looks up at that person with a sharp glare, ready to fight whoever it is with her bad mood. It turns out to be a boy from the next class that she’s never spoken to. She tries to recall his name but can’t think of anything, and decides it doesn’t matter. She crosses her arms. “Then you could have just said sorry.”  
  
“Why would I say sorry to someone who didn’t watch where she was going?”  
  
Now she’s really annoyed. If it was Mingyu, Jiho would have headlocked him without a second thought for talking back to her, even if she was the one in the wrong. But this boy standing in front of her now isn’t Mingyu, and she doesn’t think she can win this argument.  
  
Mingyu would probably take her side if he was around.  
  
“Whatever, get away from me!” She throws her hands and darts off first, not forgetting to dramatically bump his arm with her shoulder as she walks past him. Today has been a bad day for her. In fact, the past week since she learned about her brother’s secret, she has been feeling incredibly dejected, miserable and lonely. She’s not going to let this boy make it worse.  
  
  
  
  
Jiho has looked all over the house, but her planner is nowhere to be found. She’s gone through her backpack four times already and checked her other books in case it's hidden among them, but there's still no sign of it.  
  
“Looking for something?” Mingyu asks. He’s standing at her bedroom door sucking on a popsicle while she’s checking her backpack again, just in case.  
  
“Ah, I can't find my planner. Have you seen it?”  
  
“Which one?”  
  
“You know the one that I always carry around!”  
  
His scrunched up face brightens as he seems to know now what planner she's referring to. “Oh, that one!” he claims excitedly, much to Jiho's relief. “I didn't see it,” he continues, much to her disappointment. “Why, did you lose it?”  
  
“I don't know. I can't find it anywhere,” she sighs.  
  
“Maybe you left it in school?” he offers.  
  
She weighs that possibility for a moment before shooting it down. “But I remember having it with me when I left the class.”  
  
“Then you probably dropped it somewhere.”  
  
That idea makes her feel even more appalled. “I hope not. That planner is important to me.”  
  
Mingyu falls silent as he leans sideways against the doorframe with the popsicle in his mouth. It isn't until a couple of minutes later that he speaks again. “Did you drop by anywhere on your way home? Like the snack bar or a cafe or something?” When Jiho answers with a shake of head, he goes on. “Do you want me to go look for it?”  
  
“Now?” she asks, to which he nods. “No, it's late. I’ll just do it in the morning.”  
  
“You sure?”  
  
“Yeah,” she says. “Thanks for offering.”  
  
He shrugs and then heads off to his room, leaving Jiho still distressed yet notably happy. _He still cares about me!_ , she sends to her Talk room with Minkyung and Yoobin later. Neither of them replies.  
  
  
  
  
The happiness doesn't last long, unfortunately, because despite waking up real early the next day to look for her lost planner in school before the rest of the students arrive, it's nowhere to be found.  
  
“This is the punishment for stalking your brother. And possibly plotting his breakup as well, knowing you,” Minkyung tells her when Jiho whines about it to her friends.  
  
“Karma,” Yoobin adds nonchalantly.  
  
Jiho is shooting death glares but neither of them seems fazed or threatened. “I’m unfriending you. Both of you.”  
  
She decides to give up on the planner, figuring there's not much important thing in it anyway. Just some important dates like birthdays and her plans, notes she jot down in a hurry in class, scribbles and doodles that she did when she was bored. There was that information she gathered about her twin’s girlfriend, but she has no use for it now.  
  
At least that's what she planned to do, until the lunch break arrives. After enjoying her meal happily at the cafeteria, she returns to the classroom earlier than the others because in her frantic search for the missing planner, she's completely forgotten about the math homework.  
  
Jiho is copying Mingyu's answers when someone enters. She doesn't actually look up, thinking it's just one of her classmates. But that person goes to sit in Minkyung's seat in front of her. What makes it weirder is he's sitting facing her.  
  
“Who are you, what do you want?” she immediately questions. It's not someone from her class, not even someone she recognizes. His face does seem familiar though.  
  
Instead of answering, his left hand reaches into his blazer’s inner pocket, and takes out a very familiar looking book.  
  
“My planner!” she exclaims in surprise, then in confusion. “Wait, why do you have that?”  
  
“Hmm, I wonder where…” he trails off. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” The smirk he’s wearing indicates that he has something up his sleeves, and it's starting to tick her off already.  
  
Now that she’s taken a proper look at him, she realizes that this boy is the one she bumped into the previous day. “Give it back,” she commands instead of asks. He doesn't obey, which somehow doesn't surprise her. She does get more annoyed, though, so she tries to snatch it instead. Her attempt ends in vain.  
  
“I found some interesting stuff in this.”  
  
She resists the desire to choke the boy to death, never mind the fact that he’s practically a stranger and she would have to spend her life rotting away in the prison. Maybe this boy isn’t worth the time she would have wasted, but at least her image would still be intact and unscathed. After all, you get free meals in prison.  
  
She wonders briefly if Mingyu would feel sad not having her around.  
  
“Give it back,” she says again, more firmly. Jiho tries to sound threatening as well and hopes it works, but judging from his smirk that actually grows wider, it doesn’t.  
  
The boy - Cha Eunwoo, she reads from his nametag - looks at her as though he's weighing something in his mind, then hands her the notebook. Or so she thought, because as soon as she tries to snatch it, he deflects it too quickly and too readily, like that has been his plan all along. “On second thought, maybe not,” he remarks while slipping the notebook back into his blazer’s pocket.  
  
Jiho holds herself back from punching his face with her outstretched hand, and folds her arms instead. “I don’t think you even had a first thought to start with.”  
  
His expression changes from one full of mischief to being incredibly amused before he soon starts laughing, which turns his eyes into perfect crescent shapes. It irritates her to the bones. “I’ll think about what I’m going to do with it first. Or more like, how I can benefit from it,” he tells her as he gets to his feet. He doesn't forget to wink before he turns to walk away, and Jiho wonders how can someone be infuriating in so many ways.  
  
Yoobin and Minkyung find Jiho facedown at her desk when the lunch break ends. Her math homework is abandoned now. Who cares about being scolded by Teacher Woo when her life is over. “Are you okay?” Yoobin asks, voice laced with genuine concern.  
  
“Why do boys exist?” Jiho sighs dramatically.  
  
Yoobin isn't sure whether she should be even more concerned or simply ignores her, but Minkyung just gives a good pat on the back of Jiho’s head before going back to her seat. “There, there.”  
  
  
  
  
Surprisingly, the Cha Eunwoo boy doesn't bother her again for the rest of the week. Jiho tries to continue her life without thinking about him and his possible blackmails.  
  
She thinks life is really looking up for her at last when Mingyu waits for her one morning to go to school together. As if that's not enough, Mingyu even books her for lunch. She's so happy that she almost forgives him for all the lonely days she’s suffered through.  
  
_Almost_.  
  
If her life was a TV show, there would be a dramatic background music the moment she turns around after Mingyu waves eagerly at someone when they are sitting together at lunch. There would be a dramatic zoom in on her face the moment she sees the person he’s waving at, who turns out to be none other than his girlfriend. The scene might even cut right there and the caption “to be continued” would appear below a collage of their faces.  
  
But this is not some makjang drama that she likes to watch every now and then (Mingyu does, too, though he would never admit it) - this is her life and nothing gets realer than this.  
  
The girl takes a seat next to Mingyu after bowing slightly at her while flashing the prettiest smiles. Jiho hates to admit the last part, but it is a fact that she can't deny. “Jiho, I want to introduce to you, Mina,” Mingyu announces excitedly that even his little fangs get exposed as he grins at the two of them. Mostly at Mina, but Jiho is too busy recalling that time he puked on her new Sailormoon backpack during their field trip when they were six to care. Where has that insufferable little boy disappeared to?  
  
“Hello, I’m Mina, um, Mingyu's friend. Nice to meet you.”  
  
Myoui Mina, from class 1. Her family moved here from Japan when she was 14. She went to a private school to adapt to the new surrounding and learn the new language before coming to this school. Top of her class. Learned ballet as a child. Even good at piano. Jiho can almost reads out every single information on this girl that she’s jotted down in her notebook without missing a word, and thanks heavens she manages to keep her mouth shut.  
  
Mingyu is peering at her curiously, probably wondering if she was listening. It's not much difference, but for a second she wished he had wondered if she was okay. “Right.” She blinks. “Hi.” She tries a smile, thinking of her brother.  
  
The girl, Mina smiles in relief, then turns to look at Mingyu happily. Jiho hasn't even given them her permission to get married yet, but they already look this relieved.  
  
She draws a sigh as she picks at the anchovies on her tray. Of course the day was going too well. It's been too naive of her to believe that Mingyu genuinely just wanted to spend time with her when they hardly even spent lunchtime together. She stares at the couple sitting in front of them, and feels lonelier than ever.  
  
  
  
  
  
Jiho feels too depressed to go home, but since Minkyung and Yoobin have cram school and part-time job respectively, and the idea of going to the _noraebang_ alone makes her feel too pathetic, she decides to go sulk at the library instead.  
  
She's resting her face sideways on the table staring into space when someone brings their face close, too close actually, that she yelps and jumps in her chair. That almost turns into a tragedy because as her chair moves backwards, it loses balance and she almost falls down on her back, but that very person catches her on time. And now they are stuck in this clichéd position like in a movie where their faces are inches apart and they're simply staring at each other without moving. Jiho thinks this could have been a romantic scene, if it wasn't for that person being Cha Eunwoo. And he is grinning at her.  
  
Thankfully, the boy who’s been sitting at the table next to hers coughs uncomfortably to signal them of his presence there, so they quickly snap back to reality. She gets on her feet in the speed of a lightning, mumbles a thank you while grabbing her bag and immediately walks out, so she can hide her reddening face. At times like this she’s grateful for her long hair.  
  
“Wait!” he shouts once they're both outside as he tries to run after her. She starts taking larger and faster strides.  
  
“Leave me alone!” she shouts back without glancing at him.  
  
He doesn't give up. “Why are you running away?” he asks all too innocently. “And why is your face so red? Did I perhaps make your heart race?”  
  
Hearing that, she pauses and closes her eyes, praying to every deity to grant her all the patience in the world so she doesn't throw a punch right into his gut, even though that's the thing she wants to do the most right now. “I actually want to throw up right now,” she tells him. “You wouldn't want me to do it on you, would you?”  
  
He crosses his arms while looking like he's deep in thought. “Hmm, then you'll be forced to take me home so you can clean my uniform, and while I wait you’ll give me your brother's clothes to change into, and when you see how good I look in them your heart will start to race again.”  
  
Jiho considers punching herself now, in the hopes that she would wake up from this nightmare. “I should’ve just gone home,”  she mutters to herself, and he chuckles. Eyes turning into crescent moons. She hates it.  
  
“I saw you earlier,” he continues as they start walking again. More like she's walking and he’s following her. “You and Myoui Mina. Class 1. Her family moved here from Japan when she was 14. Went to a private sch-”  
  
“Oh my god.” Her jaw drops as she turns to him.  
  
“What else was there? Ah, ballet. And piano? Oh, top of-”  
  
“STOP!” she yells out. “Oh my god.” She can't believe this. She hates _him_. “What do you want from me?”  
  
He grins again, and it takes all her strength to not throw him right into the busy traffic. “I can name a few things, actually. But I won't for now,” he says.  
  
“Were you sent here to make my life a living hell? Why don't you stop making me suffer and just end my life right here.”  
  
He has the gall to actually laugh. “I’m not done messing around with you, so don't die yet. Hang in there, okay?” he tells her, then flashes another of his blindingly demonic smile before walking off. “Fighting!”  
  
She watches him leave, and keeps her stare at the same direction for a while even after he’s disappeared,then glances up at the sky. It doesn't provide an answer on why her life is filled with people who abandon her when she wants to be with them and people who don't leave her alone when she doesn't want them around.  
  
From a distance, she sees a snack bar by the street, and her stomach rumbles at the thought of _tteokbokki_. She really misses Mingyu.  
  
  
  
  
As much as she hopes to go to school together with Mingyu again, Jiho wakes up much earlier than usual and heads out even before he comes out from the bathroom, in case he does want to go with hers and talks about Mina on their way.  
  
More than not wanting to talk about her, especially not first thing in the morning, Jiho is actually afraid that Mingyu would notice that she doesn't like his girlfriend and feel disappointed in her. Growing up, she's always insisted that they should be completely honest with each other, even if it's something that would make the other unhappy. But she doesn't want her brother to see this side of her. The least she can do is avoid him as much as possible while she sorts out her feelings. She scoffs at the irony.  
  
“I know an easy solution for your problem,” Minkyung tells her later after listening to Jiho's sob. She found her facedown at her table again wallowing in misery when she arrived this morning, but such occurrence has stopped worrying her since it's happened several times already. “Befriend your brother's girlfriend. I mean, be real friends. Get over yourself and hang out with her. I heard she’s a really nice girl.”  
  
“She is, and that's the problem,” Jiho replies. “I’m not nice enough to get over my feelings.”  
  
Minkyung sighs. “You’re being petty but I can't blame you for feeling like this, really.”  
  
Jiho tries to take comfort in her friend’s words, but before she could even feel better, her phone vibrates with a message from none other than her darling twin brother. _can we eat lunch together again today?_  
  
She looks at Mingyu's empty seat, then goes back to resting her head on her arm on the table after typing out her response. “You're right. I probably should be nicer.”  
  
  
  
  
Or maybe she shouldn't be too nice. Jiho finds herself questioning every single decision she's taken that led her to this very point in her life.  
  
“So what I’m saying is, we can only go if you're there with us. Not necessarily _literally_ with us, just technically,* Mingyu explains.  
  
“You mean you're using me so you two can go on a date?”  
  
“Don't put it that way! In other words, you're like the chaperone? Mum wouldn't give me permission if I tell her I'm going with a girl, alone, right? But it's a different story if you're coming as well. We can invite Minkyung and Yoobin along if you want!”  
  
He manages to make the whole plan to sound so convincing that she almost said yes right away. Mina hasn't said a word, but her pleading eyes are working very well at melting her heart. Under the table, Jiho’s grasp on her skirt tightens. “But Yoobin said she's visiting her grandparents this weekend.” Yoobin never said anything. “And Minkyung has piano class on Saturdays.” Minkyung stopped learning piano when she was nine. But Mingyu doesn't know any of those.  
  
“Then how about Sunday?” he asks.  
  
“Um,” she hesitates. “I think…”  
  
“Can I come instead?” A voice comes from behind her. Before she could turn around, its owner has already seated himself next to her uninvited.  
  
Her eyes widen, both in shock and horror. “Cha Eunwoo?”  
  
“That would be fine, right? It can be a double date.”  
  
Her jaw drops. Did he really just say-  
  
“A double date?” Mingyu questions back, sounding surprised himself. “Wait are you and Jiho-”  
  
“NO!” Jiho accidentally shouts out of fear and panic. Several heads actually turn their direction but she can't be bothered to ward them off. “Mingyu, it's not what you think. I don't even-”  
  
“I confessed to her once but got rejected, so now I'm trying to make her fall for me. Will you guys help?” he says, smiling innocently as those lies come out from his mouth. He even has the nerves to turn to her and winks.  
  
Mingyu can't stop blinking at the two of them like a dying light bulb. Even Mina looks like a lost dear, glancing back and forth between all three of them, as if she's trying to grasp the situation and be the neutralizer, despite not saying anything in the last few minutes. Or maybe she's wishing she can just escape. You can never tell what a quiet person is thinking.  
  
It’s Mingyu who breaks the silence at last, in the manner that Jiho wishes he just kept his mouth shut instead. “Alright, let's do that.”  
  
Jiho opens her mouth to protest, but of course Cha Eunwoo wouldn't let her be. “Great,” he says.  
  
She buries her face in her hands, at the same time wishing the earth could open up and so she can bury herself too.  
  
  
  
  
Jiho probably would have a shot in the Guinness Book of Records with the number of attempts she’s made at making herself fall sick, just so that she can sit out of the cursed double date.  
  
Over the span of four days since the plan was made, she's tried 'forgetting’ her sweater to school, going to sleep with the windows open, eating a whole tub of ice-cream at once, eating almost another tub of ice-cream in an air-conditioned room (Mingyu walked in on her and took it right from her hands. “I completely understand your PMS but leave my share alone.”), sticking her head in the freezer, even taking advantage of the rain and lied down on the slide in the playground until the patrolling policeman found her. Her antibody is too strong for no good reason all of a sudden, because after all that she put herself through she doesn't even cough once.  
  
By Saturday, she contemplates simply running away. But the thought of Cha Eunwoo showing her planner to Mingyu haunts her and ties her down to this sad reality. She can't believe she has to spend her Sunday with him, and possibly alone at that. Screw him and his demonic smile. She hopes he steps on a piece of Lego.  
  
When Sunday finally arrives, she wakes up with a tear running down her cheek, drags her feet to the bathroom and puts on the outfit that Minkyung helped coordinate. Even if she's heading to her death, she's at least going to make sure she looks cuter than her brother's girlfriend.  
  
“How did you and Cha Eunwoo know each other?” Mingyu asks while they're waiting for the rest at the convenience store at the train station. Both Mina and Cha Eunwoo live in different neighbourhood, so they decided on this place as the meeting point before making their way to Gangnam Station to take the bus. They're heading to Everland because Mina has never been there since she moved here, and Jiho thinks they can’t pick a better place to torture her.  
  
“A twisted fate,” she mutters in reply. Mingyu doesn't hear her, though. “He found my planner,” she tells him, which isn't a lie actually.  
  
“The one that you lost recently?”  
  
“Yeah, that very one.” She nods absently. She really shouldn't have lost it.  
  
“Oh,” he says. It seems like there's more that he wants to say, or maybe ask, from the way his brows are furrowed. “I was wondering how did you two become friends.”  
  
She winces. “We’re not friends.”  
  
“Then?”  
  
“I don't know.”  
  
“Does he like you?”  
  
“I don't know.”  
  
“What about you?”  
  
“What about me?” She raises her eyes.  
  
“Do you like him?”  
  
All of the ridiculous thing she's heard in her life, this has got to be [#1](https://www.livejournal.com/rsearch/?tags=%231) right now. “What? No! What gives you the idea?”  
  
“You dressed up today,” he points out.  
  
_That's only because I want to look prettier than Mina_ , but she can't possibly tell him the truth. “You’re talking as if I dress like a hobo everyday.”  
  
“You do dress like a hobo everyday.”  
  
“I dress like that at home!”  
  
“You dress like that even to the convenience store.”  
  
“At 11 p.m.! No one's going to see me and no one's gonna care either if I dress like a hobo.”  
  
Fortunately (or not, she needs to think about this again later), the other two arrive just in time before the fight gets worse. It's not even a fight, really, it's just that Jiho feels extra sensitive these days. She glares at Cha Eunwoo, because of course he’s to blame for everything.  
  
“Are you so happy to see me?” he asks with the brightest smile, seemingly unperturbed by her. He's annoying right at the first second. Jiho worries how she's going to spend the next few hours.  
  
In the train, they're seated across one another, Mingyu with Mina and Cha Eunwoo with her. For some reason, he tries to sit very closely together. “You would want to look happier,” he leans in to whisper to her. “Look at your brother's face.”  
  
She peers at Mingyu. He's glowering at them as though he's really upset or unhappy about something, and she wonders if she's done anything. He can't be still be angry about the argument earlier when she was the one being called a hobo.  
  
“He's jealous.”  
  
“What?” She looks at him incredulously.  
  
“It's true. Why else would he keep shooting me death glares since we met just now?” he insists. “Try laughing with me.” She forces a laugh, to which he rolls his eyes. “Please, anyone can tell that's fake.  
  
“Then tell me something funny!”  
  
“I think the uncle who sat next to me farted before he left.”  
  
She crinkles his nose. “That's gross, not funny.”  
  
“Hmm,” he contemplates about it, more seriously this time. Crossing his arms, he leans back to his seat and falls silent for a while. He finally says something when she's trying to look at the announcement board to see which station is next. “The fact that you don't have feelings for me.”  
  
“What's funny about that?”  
  
“Isn't it funny that you still don't like me back?”  
  
He's smiling but appears serious at the same time. Jiho can't tell if it's really a joke, but she decides that she wants it to be because she would rather laugh at a bad joke than get trapped in an awkward situation. So she laughs. Half-hearted, sure, but still much better than the previous one.  
  
He chuckles. “Your brother is definitely jealous,” he remarks. Jiho steals a glance at Mingyu, and it's obvious now how he’s glaring sharply at Cha Eunwoo. The latter remains calm and unfazed. “And that wasn't a joke.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“You should consider that,” he keeps his reply short and vague, without giving her a chance to ask more because as soon as he says that, their train arrives at the station where they are supposed to transfer to a different line.  
  
Their next train is packed with barely enough space for them to stand together, despite being early in the morning still. She doesn't mull over his words. When they finally get to Everland an hour later, with Jiho spending the entire bus trip being asleep, she’s already forgotten that he said anything at all.  
  
  
  
  
“So are we gonna go separately from here?” he asks Mingyu after they get past the long queue at the entrance.  
  
“Uh, is that okay with you?” Mingyu directs the question to her, which takes her by surprise because she's already thinking about which snack she should go for first.  
  
“You're asking me?” She blinks dumbly, wondering if he's simply offering out of manner because even though he did ask her to tag along to this date, he can't mean literally following them around. Not that she never thought of tailing behind him in secret. “Of course, you two go ahead.”  
  
He's giving her that weird look again, probably his tenth time since the day they all made this plan. “Call me if you need anything,” he tells her before turning away. Mina is smiling and waving at her as they do.  
  
Jiho only realizes that she's waving back once they've gone out of sight, and she quickly puts her hand behind her as though to hide her shame. If Cha Eunwoo notices, he doesn't make use of the opportunity to tease her. “You twins really can't hide your feelings,” he comments instead. “Everything shows on your face.”  
  
“That's not true,” she denies. “I’m good at playing go stop.”  
  
That's hardly a point because although she _is_ good at go stop, that has nothing to do with putting on a poker face. He, on the other hand, apparently has an uncanny ability to turn any situation in his favour. “Oh, are you hinting a possibility of us spending Chuseok together?” he muses while folding his arms over his chest.  
  
She grunts and saunters off to the nearest gift shop. Despite her protest, he buys her a giraffe headband while he picks cat ears for himself. She can't understand what goes inside his head but doesn't plan to, so she puts it on and heads off, worrying about the queue at the popular roller coaster. She can't miss riding it this time.  
  
“What is it about Mina that you hate?” he questions as they stand in line. Thankfully there's not that many people here yet, so the queue is not that bad.  
  
“I don't hate her,” Jiho answers flatly. “I mean, I do. I think? But it's not because of her.”  
  
“Is it because you're jealous of her?”  
  
She kicks an imaginary pebble weakly. “Mingyu and I grew up together, so naturally we do everything together. As awfully cliché as it sounds, he’s my best friend. I know we're not going to spend the rest of our lives together - I do get sick of him too, mind you - but it's just that… I feel he was stolen away from me.”  
  
Jiho didn't expect herself to open up that easily, especially not to the person she’s with now. But it feels so easy to speak her true feelings and she's too tired of denying things already. To his credit, Cha Eunwoo doesn't make comments to make fun of her brother complex. Instead, he places a hand on her shoulder and pats it gently. “That must have been lonely for you.”  
  
“And excruciatingly painful. You can help me heal some wounds by returning my planner,” she slides in, taking her chance and hoping that her attempt at sad puppy eyes works.  
  
He chuckles. “Good try, but that's not gonna happen soon.”  
  
Kicking another imaginary pebble, but with more strength this time, she grumbles and mumbles something under her breath. She may or may not let him hear it on purpose. He appears too amused to take offense, anyway.  
  
  
  
  
To her despair, Cha Eunwoo ends up walking her home that evening despite her insistence that it's perfectly safe for her to walk alone. Alone, because Mingyu on the other hand thinks it's unsafe to let Mina go home by herself and much less with Cha Eunwoo. Jiho would feel offended that Mingyu doesn't trust him with his girlfriend but he does with her, if she wasn't glad to another possible interrogation session.  
  
Contrary to popular belief, it's Mingyu who wouldn't stop bombarding her with text messages every few seconds while they were at the park, asking the same questions of where she was and if she was alright. It's also Mingyu who insisted they have lunch together, although Mina prepared special _bento_ for him. As much as it was the cutest thing and her sesame rice roll was the best rice roll Jiho’s ever eaten in her life, she actually felt bad for her.  
  
“I’m starting to think you’re the less scary twin,” Cha Eunwoo comments as they walk. “At least you don't give your brother's girlfriend murderous looks.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Didn’t you notice? Your brother has been glaring at me all day. ” Jiho frowns at him, not getting it. “He _hates_ me. He hates seeing me around you but he can't say it out loud because then he would need to admit that he's jealous and that crushes his pride. Don't you know what teenage boys hate the most? Admitting that they have feelings.”  
  
“But having a girlfriend technically means he has feelings,” she counters.  
  
“That’s a different kind of feelings,” he says, wagging his finger to her face as though to prove his point. “Anyway, now that we've confirmed this theory, we can proceed to the next step.”  
  
_We?_ Jiho blinks. When did they even establish a we? Her logic tells her to question that, but the muscles of her mouth has a different mind, apparently. “What’s the next step?”  
  
The way he is grinning smugly makes her think he might does have a genius idea. She hates herself for letting herself get deceived by him. “We can hang out more often.”  
  
She looks at him, lost as ever. Did he really say what he just said or is she hearing things now? Perhaps she just spent too much time with him? “How does that even help?”  
  
“You do to him what he did to you - abandon him. Have fun on your own!” he elaborates, but she still can't see his point yet. “Come on, I’m giving you a chance to use me.”  
  
Her eyebrows knit as she crosses her arms and glances aside. They've reached her apartment building for a while and she really doesn't want to be seen by her neighbours, or worse, her parents. Besides, she's really tired of him. “I’ll think about it,” she exhales. She's not going to. All she sees now is her bed and maybe some instant noodles before hitting the sack. Mingyu would probably want a bite, too. Should she cook an extra portion?  
  
She shakes her head. No. Perhaps Cha Eunwoo is right this time. She should stop thinking about Mingyu so much and be so considerate of him. Yes. It's time to put herself first.  
  
Which brings her to the decision of leaving much earlier than Mingyu every morning. Not just that doing that enables her to avoid talking to him to him about both Mina and Cha Eunwoo, but she actually manages to get her homework done during her time alone in class before the other kids start coming in. Never mind that Yugyeom is starting to get the wrong ideas that she's trying to steal his crown as the first person to arrive every morning and thus has been glaring at her every day. That nerd.  
  
“Please explain to me again how is this boycott supposed to work?” Yoobin questions when she's trying to nap during lunch. Jiho’s always been good at waking up early but cutting off more sleep time is starting to affect her by the time the second week rolls around.  
  
“Her absence is supposed to make him feel lonely,” Minkyung kindly explains, and Jiho almost - _almost_ \- feels touched, except that’s not the end. “Except he's too busy spending time with his girlfriend to notice anything.” Never mind.  
  
“Boys suck,” she mumbles, burying her face under her long hair. “I hate boys.”  
  
“Even Mingyu?” Minkyung asks.  
  
“ _Especially_ Mingyu,” says Jiho in a small voice.  
  
  
  
  
“I’m telling you, the key is you need to hang out with _me_ ,” says Cha Eunwoo, stuffing a rice cake into his mouth.  
  
She doesn't remember inviting him, really, rather he invited himself. He probably decided the sight of her eating at the snack cart alone is too pathetic. That, or he just couldn't miss a chance to bother her. She can never tell what goes on in his mind.  
  
“He doesn't care unless he sees you with me.”  
  
“You know, no matter how much I think about it, I still don't get this logic,” she says, contemplating her life on a piece of rice cake.  
  
“Do you care when he hangs out with… uh, he's close with Dokyeom, right?” She nods. “Right. Does it bother you when they hang out together?”  
  
“As long as they meet outside? Dokyeom always, _always_ finishes our stock of banana milk.”  
  
“Irrelevant information. But it does bother you when Mingyu's with his girlfriend, right?”  
  
“Yeah…” Jiho answers in a smaller voice.  
  
“It's the same thing for him. He wouldn't care if you're simply with your friends, but he does if you're with me. Simple math.” He reaches for a fish cake stick after emptying his bowl. It was his third bowl, and she's pretty sure she saw him in the queue at the cafeteria during lunch. Do all teenage boys eat this much?  
  
“What I don't understand is how does helping me actually benefit you?” she asks after a moment of silence.  
  
“Are you asking because you're really clueless or what?” He’s looking at her with a half amazed, half amused expression.  
  
There's a sauce stain at the corner of his lips, and she contemplates between pointing it out or leaving it be so he would look stupid all the home. Then she realizes that she's been staring at the same spot, and he’s staring at her all the while, probably getting the wrong idea.  
  
Instead of saying anything, he gets to his feet and pays for the food - both his and hers. “You have a lot to think about, Kim Jiho” is what he murmurs before walking off, leaving her there at the cart with too many unanswered questions.  
  
  
  
  
Or maybe, she doesn't need answers. She doesn't think about anything either and lets Cha Eunwoo join her table for lunch the next day. Yoobin and Minkyung both are sharing glances. Although they’ve heard of the tragic tale of Jiho's planner, she's been careful not to bring up his name too often in case of misunderstanding.  
  
Knowing them, of course they would misunderstand this. “So,” Yoobin begins all too humoured. “You and Jiho.”  
  
Jiho closes her eyes thinking if she tries hard enough, perhaps she will wake up from this long dream. She opens her eyes and they're all still there. “Whatever you're thinking about, Bae Yoobin, it's not it,” she says unhappily.  
  
Cha Eunwoo looks so entertained by everything that his eyes crescent into slivers of new moons, and that makes him look like a cartoon character. Or a _manhwa_. Her stomach feels funny somehow all of a sudden. Did the milk she drank this morning already go bad? “Does Jiho usually complain so much?” he asks, cutting her train of thoughts.  
  
“You have no idea.” Minkyung shakes her head with a dramatic sigh. The three of them proceed to discussing Jiho's normal behaviour and laughing as though she's not sitting right there with them.  
  
She doesn't know why she keeps thinking her life can't get any worse, because it does all too consistently, way beyond her imagination.  
  
If Cha Eunwoo joining her for lunch isn't bad enough, he actually starts showing up outside her class after the final bell. With that ever annoying smile.  
  
“Please tell me I'm seeing things,” she says to Minkyung, which doesn't actually help because she thinks her friends have formed a pact with Cha Eunwoo to ruin her life together. The devil is simply laughing.  
  
“I don't think you will do it even if I ask but I'm just gonna ask anyway: will you leave me alone?” She tries her luck, in case it pushes through. It doesn't, but is she surprised at this point?  
  
“No,” he answers flatly. “Being with you gives me so much joy. Why would I pass that up?”  
  
“I’m glad I’m able to provide happiness to someone else's life,” she returns sharply, but his smile doesn't falter. If anything, it just grew wider.  
  
“I hope you noticed the look on your brother's face when he saw me. If you didn't, it looks a lot like yours whenever you see his girlfriend.”  
  
She glances around to look for Mingyu, but of course he's gone. These days, Jiho doesn't even bother waiting for him in case he remembers that he used to go on adventures with his sister after school. By adventures she means trying out new snack carts and cafés. “Does it work only with you or I still can get the same result with other boys?”  
  
Cha Eunwoo clutches his chest in the most dramatic manner. “Now you're hurting my feelings,” says him, eyes wide and all.  
  
She rolls hers and allows him to walk her all the home, despite his own house being located in a different neighbourhood a couple of bus stops away. At least he’s good at keeping conversations going and doesn't mind stopping for snacks. Jiho learns that he actually enjoys desserts more than any girls she knows do.  
  
Without realizing it, she's slowly getting used to finding him waiting for her every day. Instead of being surprised whenever he shows up outside her class or catches up with her down the hallway on the days when his homeroom teacher lets his class out late, she's started to look forward the final bell and make plans for the day.  
  
Until one afternoon, right after the bell, Mingyu stops her at her desk like he was all prepared to dash to her the entire time. “Do you want to get some _tteokbokki_ together?” he offers.  
  
From the corner of her eyes, she sees Cha Eunwoo peering in from outside, probably wondering why she hasn't come out. “Can he come?” she instead asks, nodding at the direction of him, and thinks he would probably be proud of her now.  
  
Mingyu looks betrayed and pained. His knitted brows are saying no, but his head is actually moving upwards and downwards, resembling a nod. Is he really agreeing to this?  
  
Jiho can't quite decide if she just made the best or the worst decision in her life, because as anyone would predict, it's an awkward outing for the three of them. Or two, because Cha Eunwoo seems perfectly comfortable leading the conversations between them all. While Mingyu is polite enough to keep his smile and respond to every question, but Jiho finally sees The Look that Cha Eunwoo has been talking about all this time.  
  
"Are you dating Cha Eunwoo?” Mingyu questions that night when they're doing dishes together. Jiho almost drops the plate she's rinsing out of shock, because their parents are barely out of earshot in the living hall not far away.  
  
“No,” she answers, slightly baffled but somewhat amused. “Does it bother you if I am?”  
  
He strings a series of unintelligible syllables under his breath, but the “I don't like him” part is clear enough for anyone to hear, and it sets something off within her.  
  
The loneliness that clouded her days, the frustration, the pent up anger - the feelings that she's been trying to repress, fearing that she’d be seen as petty and childish, boil over in an instant. “But I never said anything about you!” she blurts out without intending to.  
  
“What does that suppose to mean?” he questions, although he already knows the answer.  
  
She means to ask him to just please drop this subject because not just things aren't turning out the way she’d hoped, but also because she's just grown tired of everything now. But the “please mind your own business, Kim Mingyu” that she spits out in the end sounds sharper, and now Mingyu is looking at her like he's disappointed. Or maybe hurt. It makes her stomach churn with regret.  
  
He doesn't talk to her for the rest of the week.  
  
  
  
  
“This is not what I want,” says Jiho, defeated. “This is totally not what I planned.”  
  
Mingyu has managed to keep a distance from both at home and in school, pretending she doesn't exist even when they're sitting at the same table during dinner every night. Amazingly, neither of their parents has noticed anything.  
  
“I hate Cha Eunwoo,” she announces not for the first time. As a matter of fact, she's said it too often that no one would bet this would be the last time.  
  
“You know, it's partly your fault,” Yoobin says, looking more amused than sympathetic. “You could've told Mingyu honestly that you hate his girlfriend.”  
  
“I don't hat-”  
  
“Whatever. The point is you shouldn't have gone around his back plotting things. In case you forgot that's why you got blackmailed by Cha Eunwoo and that's what led to this mess.”  
  
“Maybe instead of getting jealous or whatsoever you should've just told your brother how you really felt,” Minkyung adds softly but there's firmness in her voice.  
  
With a sigh, Jiho shuts her eyes and rests her head on her arms folded on the desk. Her friends may be unhelpful and aggravating at best, but with their tough love sometimes they really do help her get to her senses. She's just very tired now, and very sad. The only reason why she didn't want Mingyu to know the truth was because she was afraid that he would be upset, but now he's furious and probably hates her.  
  
She wishes everything could just disappear for a moment and she could be alone. Unfortunately, there’s Cha Eunwoo.  
  
“Not today, Cha Eunwoo,” she says when she sees him outside her class as she trudges off towards the staircase.  
  
He reaches for her shoulder to stop her, but she simply brushes him off. “Did something happen? You need to speak to me so that I can understand.”  
  
“I don't want to do this anymore.”  
  
“Do what?”  
  
“This whole… _thing_. You walking me home, you eating lunch with me, you hanging out with me… I don't want to continue this anymore, so you can go back to your life and stop minding me,” she bites out.  
  
“What are you saying?” He furrows his brows.  
  
“Oh and my planner? Do whatever you want with it. I don't care anymore.”  
  
He jogs a bit so he can catch up and come face-to-face with her. “Seriously, what are you talking about? What's going on?”  
  
“It's over now, okay? Mingyu knows the truth and he’s really angry. What I wrote in the planner doesn't matter anymore you keep it, or throw it away, whatever. And you can stop pretending to be my friend so I can get back at him and-”  
  
“Okay, wait,” he interrupts, making a face. “First of all, _what_? Me _pretending_ to be your friend? I wasn't pretending. It was never an act for me,” he says, looking a bit like a wounded house dog who has been told to stay out for something it has done. Except he also looks upset like he's been wrongly accused. “All this while do you actually think it's really about your planner? Or your brother?”  
  
Jiho massages her temple, willing that her migraine would disappear. This has been an incredible long and exhausting week, and the last thing she needs right now is another confrontation which she didn't even ask for. “Can we talk about this some other time?” she asks wearily.  
  
Instead of answering, he stares at her intently for a good minute. It's hard to read his expression, but at the same time Jiho has neither the energy or mood to, so she just waits until he turns around and walks away.  
  
She exhales a long and heavy sigh once his figure disappeared from her sight, and drags her feet toward the bus stop. She wishes she hadn't left her earphones at home.

 

 

 

Some other time never did roll around.  
  
Her wish for Cha Eunwoo to leave her alone is finally granted, over two months too late. For some reason though, it doesn't cheer her up.  
  
If anything, she actually feels a little strange now that he's not popping up everywhere. Her table during lunch feels a bit too quiet and there's an empty feeling when she exits her class and doesn't find him anywhere.  
  
“Human beings,” Minkyung says philosophically while picking out beans from her rice. “We only come to appreciate what we had once we lost it.”  
  
Jiho resists the urge to dump the beans back into her friend's rice and mix them back again, only because what Minkyung said was true. For the sake of her ego, though, she rolls her eyes and chews on a piece of meat irritatedly.  
  
Almost two weeks since the civil war began, Mingyu comes to her desk one afternoon and asks, in the smallest of voice, if she would like go home together.  
  
Neither of them speak a word all the way to the bus stop, yet for some reason, the silence doesn't feel suffocating this time. There's a space between them as they sit waiting for the bus, but it doesn't indicate any lingering feeling of displeasure or discomfort. It's rather nice, Jiho thinks, being able to enjoy this quietness for a change.  
  
“Should we just walk?” he asks after a while, crushing a dried leaf underneath his shoe. The scarf he's wearing around his neck muffles his voice a bit.  
  
“If you want to, I don't mind walking,” she replies.  
  
He sighs and turns to her. “Why do you always let me have my way?”  
  
“Because I don't mind?” she raises her shoulders to a shrug, nonchalantly.  
  
“Whenever I ask you for or to do something, you always say yes. Of course I appreciate that, but you should learn to say no to things that you actually don't want to do, you know? Sometimes I can't tell if you really don't mind or you're just being nice,” says him, sounding somewhat forlorn. He's staring at the remnants of the leaf he crushed after the wind swept most of it away.  
  
She looks at the leaf, then back at him. “Okay.”  
  
The bus arrives not long after, a little packed. Mingyu lets her have the only vacant seat and stands next to her, holding onto the handlebars on her seat and the one in front of her. Jiho looks up at him. “I’m sorry,” she tells him.  
  
“If you are then let me copy your notes,” he murmurs, and she smiles.  
  
Growing up, Mingyu's never one to admit his fault and say sorry despite being good at expressing his feelings. When caught in the wrong, he prefers to make it up through actions rather than words. This is his way of apologizing and making peace. This much she knows.  
  
  
  
  
“So you and Mingyu made peace, and you're cool with his girlfriend. Everything is fine now? Happily ever after?” Yoobin asks. Jiho wants to believe that she means well, but the gleam in her eyes is saying that she's just glad she won't be dealing with Jiho's breakdowns anymore.  
  
“Congratulations. I hope you're not actually still trying to break them up. You know the saying. If you can't defeat your enemy, befriend them,” Minkyung adds.  
  
Jiho feigns an offended look, but soon counters back. “Now _that_ gives me an idea.”  
  
“Mingyu would kill you,” says Yoobin, laughing along while stealing a slice of pickled radish from Jiho's tray.  
  
Minkyung, however, shakes her head and begs to differ. “No, he wouldn't. Instead he would stop talking to her and acknowledge her existence forever. You've seen Jiho the past few weeks when he didn't speak to her. This would _torture_ her, which is much worse than killing her at once,” she elaborates while holding up her chopsticks to make a point.  
  
On the other hand, Jiho groans into her soup. “Every day I question why I still have not called off our friendship.”  
  
“That's because no one else can tolerate you, Kim Jiho,” says Minkyung matter-of-factly, amused at the same time. “Speaking of which, where's your boyfriend? I haven't seen him for a while.”  
  
“What boyfriend?”  
  
“Don't pretend to be clueless. You know who I'm talking about.”  
  
“He's not my boyfriend,” Jiho mumbles, blocking Yoobin’s second attempt at stealing her pickled radish.  
  
“Are you done with him now that you and Mingyu are okay?”  
  
She scowls. “What are you saying?”  
  
“Jiho, I know why he started following you around. But you can't keep insisting that he's only doing that because of that one reason. People normally wouldn't go that far, anyway. And he didn't even gain anything out of it, right?”  
  
“Who said he didn't gain anything? He sure was entertained by the whole thing.”  
  
Minkyung puts down her spoon and sighs. “Look, _I_ was entertained by the whole thing, but did I ever check the weather and purposely bring an extra umbrella for you? Did I get you your favourite banana milk everyday? Did I ever accompany you all the way to the entrance of your apartment building even though we live in the same neighbourhood?”  
  
“No, but that's… that's because you're-”  
  
“Your friend? Then what is he to you if you don't consider him a friend?” Minkyung asks sharply. And as much as Jiho wants to deny it, her words do sting. “Stop lying to yourself, Jiho. Even if it doesn’t mean anything to you, it’s unfair on his side.”  
  
She scowls again as she watches Minkyung getting up to leave with her tray, then groans loudly. What’s really unfair is that she’s being treated this way when she never even asked Cha Eunwoo to do any of those things. I’m the victim here, she wants to yell out to everyone, but she only settles with stabbing the kimchi pieces angrily using her chopsticks.  
  
Meanwhile, Yoobin instinctively pulls her own tray closer to protect her precious food before she opens her mouth. “I know what you’re thinking and I know what you want me to say, but Minkyung is right this time, Jiho,” she says carefully.  
  
Jiho lets out another frustrated grunt and pushes her tray towards her angrily. “Just eat it all.” The soup spills a bit and the fallen cutleries make a loud clanking sound,  so several heads turn her direction. On her way out, she spots the last person she wants to see now at another table, laughing carefreely with some other boys.  
  
She directs her rage at the vending machine that refuses to accept her crinkled note and pretends her foot doesn’t hurt.  
  
  
  
  
Neither Minkyung nor Yoobin is actually petty enough to stop talking to her after that incident, fortunately, but unfortunately, Jiho is.  
  
She thinks she deserves at least a banana milk or a chance at copying their homework if not a proper apology, but seeing that she’s not getting any of that anytime soon, she lets her pride crumble a little and sits with Mingyu during lunch break, uninvited.  
  
Mina is kind enough to offer her bento, and even though that’s not what she’s here for, Jiho doesn’t waste the opportunity. On the other hand, her brother is narrowing his eyes at her. “You had a fight with your friends?” he makes it sound like a question, but they both know it’s not. He’s always uselessly sharp at the most annoying times.  
  
“None of your business, Kim Mingyu,” she replies, taking another piece of roll eggs from Mina’s lunch box.  
  
“It's my business if you're taking up my portion of the food,” he says while stealing the biggest piece of meat from her tray.  
  
“I was saving that one!” she protests, then proceeds to steal his yogurt drink.  
  
“Hey!”  
  
“Please stop fighting,” says Mina gently before putting a mini sausage that's been cut and cutely shaped to look like an octopus on top of the rice in Jiho's tray and giving Mingyu her own yogurt drink. She's smiling as her eyes flicker back and forth between the two of them, and Jiho suddenly feels bad about all the things she’s said about this girl back then.  
  
“Fine,” Mingyu grumbles. “I’m only tolerating this because you did us a favour before, okay?”  
  
Jiho flashes a smile at him that's too wide to be sincere, and he does the same. If Mina wasn't around, he probably wouldn't hesitate to chase her off. A mother in some drama series she's watched was right when she said raising a son is useless because he will just end up listening to his wife. And Mingyu is still so far from being married.  
  
She's considering ways to get Mina to side with her so Mingyu has no choice but to do the same, when he rudely interrupts her thoughts. “Go sort out your life. Why are you avoiding so many people?” nags him.  
  
It's the last thing she needs from him, really. “Thanks for your concern, but I'll manage my own life.”  
  
“It's not concern. I’m actually telling you off because you don't seem to be capable of doing that well enough,” he says matter-of-factly. She glares at her brother who does not bother to conceal the look of disdain on his face, as if he has no relation to her issues at all. None of her problems would actually exist in the first place if it wasn't for him.  
  
Jiho feels like screaming at him and crying and kicking the nearest vending machine all at once, and she blames it all on Mingyu, and also her unstable hormones of late. Maybe she's getting her period soon, or that the soup is just too salty today.  
  
Or maybe it's just her. The immature, irrational, insensitive and oversensitive at the same time, emotional and petty one who overthinks and overreacts and ends up ruining everything. Maybe she's been wrong all along and too stubborn to admit it.  
  
Maybe it's time to fix things.  
  
  
  
  
Jiho begins with bringing freshly baked brownies to the café Minkyung works part-time at. “I made this with my tears. Will you be my friend again?” she says, looking away as she holds a nicely wrapped box up toward her.  
  
“Uh,” Minkyung blinks at her, looking a little lost and skeptical. “I’m not sure how I am supposed to react to this. What even is in that?”  
  
“Well, you can start by accepting it first,” Jiho replies, shoving the box at her friend instead of actually waiting for her to take it. “It's brownies. As an apology.”  
  
Jiho mumbled the last part, but the hint of amusement in the way Minkyung's lips curl slightly at the corners indicates that she heard it. At least she doesn't prolong her agony by questioning it further. “Okay. You didn't have to since it's not like I was going to stop being friends with you, but thanks.”  
  
She exhales in relief, feeling some of the weight on her shoulders now gone. “I’ve been a bit dramatic recently, and I guess I went overboard. Thank you for putting up with me, even though you ignored most of my texts about Mingyu.”  
  
“‘A bit’ is an understatement, to be honest. And I’m not quite feeling your appreciation speech, but alright,” Minkyung says, chuckling a little. She unties the ribbon and uncovers the box to have a look at the brownies. It's slightly burnt at the edges, but it's barely visible. “I’m asking this just in case - besides your tears did you add in anything else that shouldn't be in there? For instance, some kind of potion... or maybe weed?”  
  
“Maybe my snot got in by accident.”  
  
“Gross.” She makes a face, but replaces the frown with a smile soon enough. “Do you want anything? Drinks?” she offers.  
  
“Hmm, I gotta make another delivery to Binnie, but her class doesn’t end until-” Jiho checks her phone for the time, “half an hour? I guess I’ll hang out here for a while.”  
  
“Banana smoothie?” She nods and looks for her purse, but Minkyung places her hand on hers. “It's on me.”  
  
“You’re the best, Kim Minkyung.” She flashes the broadest and sweetest smile at her friend, who responds by rolling her eyes, then goes to wait at a nearby table.  
  
Right then, the bells on the door chime as someone pulls it open, and as soon as she sees who it is, Jiho instantly looks the other direction while attempting to hide her face behind her bag and cursing under her breath at the same time.  
  
In mere ten seconds, she already has her escape planned out. Crawl away unnoticed, notify Minkyung, and pretend this never happened. It's not a bad plan, really, and she's not the only customer here so he probably won't notice her, right? Especially if she tries to blend herself-  
  
“What are you doing?” Minkyung questions almost too brightly, standing by her table with her banana smoothie. Jiho takes a chance to peer at the counter where he's at, and fortunately he’s too preoccupied with the menu.  
  
“Trying to hide, which you're not being much of a help?” hisses Jiho, horrified. She’s now relying on her long hair to cover her face.  
  
“Why are you trying to hide?”  
  
“Um, because of that?”  
  
Minkyung turns around to see what she's pointing at. “Oh, Cha Eunwoo? He comes here every day,” she says in the most casual tone.  
  
“And you couldn't have alerted me?” Jiho asks, sounding like she's never been so betrayed.  
  
“Well, I forgot.”  
  
She watches Minkyung walk away with disbelief, wondering if it's too late to ask for her brownies back. Being friendless doesn't sound that unappealing now, especially with friends like this.  
  
Before she sprints to the door, Jiho decides to glance at him one more time. It proves to be the worst decision she's ever made, because their eyes meet. It's too late to pretend she didn't see him, but too weird to wave or even smile, so she doesn't.  
  
She does, however, expect him to come over. To say an ordinary greeting or even to tease her like he always used to, she's not sure. She also half expects his usual cheshire grin. But instead of that, Cha Eunwoo saunters off to another table without another glance at her, and she only notices now that he has a company with him. A girl. Chaeyeon. She knows her. Half the boys at their school are in love with her.  
  
Oh.  
  
Jiho starts inhaling her smoothie, slowly and as quietly as she can as though she's not supposed to make any noise, while stealing glances and trying not stare too hard at the two.  
  
Her stomach is being funny again, but this time it feels more like someone has punched her in the guts than the normal discomfort. It's probably just the banana smoothie. It can't be anything else.  
  
  
  
  
Her bedroom door makes a creaking sound as someone pushes it open slowly, and the bright light from the other room spills into hers. Jiho squints her eyes against the light.  
  
“Mum told me to check on you,” says Mingyu, standing at the doorway with his hand still on the knob.  
  
“I’m not dead yet, don't worry,” she mumbles back.  
  
“Are you okay?” he asks, sounding more concerned now as he makes his way over then crouches down next to her bed.  
  
“I don't know. I think I ate something weird.”  
  
“Is it the brownies I found in the kitchen? Did you make that yourself? Thank god I didn't take a bite yet.”  
  
“Shut up. My brownies are fine,” she defends, but Mingyu just chuckles and begins stroking her back. It feels warm and nice. Maybe she should fall sick every now and then so he would treat her nicely.  
  
“Are you sure it's not the regular period pain?” he questions further.  
  
She frowns a bit, hand on her belly. “No, it's not that. I’m not even having my period now,” she replies.  
  
“Since when did this start?”  
  
“A while- few months back I think? It doesn't happen that regularly, though.”  
  
“Does it feel like something or someone is twisting and tangling your intestines?” he asks, and it surprises her how accurate his description is. She agrees almost too enthusiastically, forgetting the pain for a while. “Does your chest feel suffocating, somehow? I mean, does it feel hard to breathe?”  
  
Again, the accuracy. She jolts up and sits facing him, feeling somewhat moved. “How did you know?”  
  
Sighing, Mingyu gets to his feet and crosses his arms across his chest. “Because that's how I felt whenever I saw Mina back then,” he says.  
  
Jiho is more confused than ever. “Wait, what do you mean?”  
  
“Congratulations, you're in love.”  
  
It's hard to see what kind of expression he's putting on right now, but surely he can't beat hers as she blinks at him, very much puzzled and betrayed even. “What?”  
  
She regrets her life.  
  
  
  
  
“You need to talk to him,” says Yoobin, munching on her brownies.  
  
After the incident at the café, Jiho completely forgot about brownies that she's supposed to be delivering to Yoobin and went straight home from there, and it ended up squashed under the weight of whatever's inside Jiho's bag since she just dropped it on the floor once she got home. Yoobin doesn't seem to mind the appearance though.  
  
“I have nothing to talk to him about,” Jiho replies as she busily copies Mingyu's English homework word by word.  
  
“You have plenty to talk to him about,” deadpans Minkyung. “Like your feelings.”  
  
Mingyu's _“congratulations, you're in love”_ rings in her ears all of a sudden, so Jiho closes her eyes and shakes her head as though she's shaking the voice off. “I don't have feelings,” she tells her through gritted teeth.  
  
“Yes, you do. I've seen the way you would look for him at the cafeteria when you think we wouldn't notice. I know you still half expect to find him outside waiting for you. And I definitely saw the look on your face when you saw him yesterday. _With another girl_. That’s jealousy, in case you never realized what it was.”  
  
“Leave me alone!” she grumbles, glaring at the both of them. If anything, they actually look more entertained than scared. It irritates her even more, but she can't pick up a fight right after making peace with them.  
  
So when Yoobin says she's heading to the cafeteria with Minkyung, Jiho whispers a silent prayer of gratitude and continues copying the homework. Or at least try to, because as if he purposely planned it, Cha Eunwoo walks past her classroom right then. With the same girl by his side.  
  
They appear to be sharing some joke from the way they're laughing. Whatever it is, he seems very much humoured that his crescent eyes are crinkling with glee. The sight is so familiar, and then it occurs to her: didn't he use to smile at her like that, too?  
  
Her stomach tightens, and Jiho feels the same pain again, except this time her chest hurts, too. It’s like someone is ripping her heart out and squashing it in their palm. She’s hearing Mingyu’s voice again as well as Minkyung’s at the same time. _That’s jealousy_.  
  
She groans and bangs her head against the desk over and until Yugyeom, who’s napping at his desk near the door, wakes up and sends a sharp glare her way. Not that she cares. Not when she has a bigger problem at hand than dealing with the boy who feels his position is threatened. “Oh god,” she cries. Maybe she is crying for real. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”  
  
  
  
  
Admitting that she’s in love with Cha Eunwoo is proven harder than acing an exam, in all honesty.  
  
First of all, Jiho's never been in love with anyone before. Not including celebrity crushes, of course. Or the boy from her kindergarten who asked if she wanted to date him but broke her heart five minutes later when he asked another girl the same question. There's never been anyone else.  
  
Second of all, it's Cha Eunwoo. The same person who made her life more miserable than it already was, and the very person she could swear was her eternal enemy. Hatred isn't supposed to take a complete turn and become a damn love. Her friends will never stop making fun of her (if they aren't having the time of their lives already).  
  
Her pride doesn’t allow her to go to her friends for some comfort and advice. Mingyu, of course, is out of the question. She actually has half the mind to just spill it to some random boy from her class, Minghao or Yugyeom for example, knowing that they wouldn't care anyway to tell others, when one afternoon, as fate would allow it, Mina appear right in front of her wondering if she could ask for a favour.  
  
  
  
  
“I can't tell, really,” says Mina, brows slightly furrowed and head tilted to one side. She looks cute doing that, honestly. “Someone asked them before, when they were leaving together? But they just laughed instead of answering.”  
  
Jiho frowns as she looks at the cardigan Mina is currently holding. The favour she wanted to ask turned out to be picking out a Christmas gift for Mingyu, so now they're at a department store which Mina insisted of going although Jiho said something from Namdaemun market would have been just fine. “How- when did they become close?” she asks, playing her card playfully since still unsure whether she should reveal the truth to Mina just yet.  
  
“Hmm, I think they've always been good friends but they started spending time together just recently?” Mina answers, then looks at her with apologetic eyes. “Sorry, I never paid close attention to them.”  
  
“Oh, no no it's not your fault!” Jiho immediately says. She worries and wonders why Mina would apologize for something that she's not at all responsible for?  
  
“To be honest, I’m not sure if spending a lot of time together means they're dating,” Mina adds afterwards. “I mean, I thought he was dating you, since you were always together. A lot of people did, actually.”  
  
“A lot of people?” Jiho raises her brows quizzically.  
  
“Well, Mingyu, some of our classmates. I heard some juniors too, once.”  
  
She pales at the thought of being the gossip topic of people she doesn't even know. Yoobin has told her that Cha Eunwoo is quite popular, but she never took it seriously since she's never heard of him before he started bugging her. Is he really a big deal?  
  
Maybe this is a bad idea, after all. Maybe she should pretend that feelings don't exist and continue her life ignoring his existence. Maybe she can live on Mingyu's mercy and live with him even after he's married and has children of his own. Mina wouldn't mind, would she?  
  
“That looks nice,” Jiho comments on the scarf Mina’s studying. Mingyu does get cold easily during winter, and blue’s his favourite colour. Mina thanks her happily and quickly rings it up.  
  
Living with this sweet girl for the rest of her life doesn't sound bad at all.  
  
  
  
  
Except she never listens to the good voices in her head. Two days, she finds herself sitting in another café across the street from the one Minkyung's working at, right next to the window so she can get a clear view of the place. Of Cha Eunwoo when he arrives there, actually.  
  
They say curiosity kills the cat, but Jiho is pretty sure that the worst possible thing that it could cause to her is total humiliation. She's been through enough embarrassment already (except, of course, admitting her feelings) so she figures this can't be that bad. She's wearing a cap which she borrowed from Mingyu to keep her face hidden and has her homework and some other books laid out on the table in case.  
  
Except he doesn't show up. Not even after a couple of hours of waiting, and she actually managed to get her homework done. Didn't Minkyung say he goes there everyday?  
  
He's nowhere in sight again the next day, and Jiho even stays longer just to make sure, in case she missed him previously. She wonders what's going on and contemplates the possibility of Minkyung lying to her.  
  
On the third day, however, she finds him right here at this café, sitting too strategically at the center facing the entrance. She's just about to make a U-turn when he looks up and their eyes meet, and she misses the timing to make it seem like she didn’t notice it’s him. Even her cap isn't helping. Damn it.  
  
“Hello,” he says casually. He’s alone today, and it appears like he’s been waiting for her. Or maybe he's waiting for Chaeyeon. “I thought I'd find you here.”  
  
It almost makes her happy that he's speaking to her again, until she remembers that he shouldn't know why she's here. Jiho crosses her arms and tries to remain poised. “What brings you here?”  
  
“You,” he answers, which throws her off, really. He has the same twinkle in his eyes as he did when he first came to her with her notebook, like he has all kinds of mischief up his sleeves. It makes her uncomfortable.  
  
“What do-”  
  
“I know why you’re here.”  
  
She freezes. “Wh- what are you talking about?”  
  
“Kim Jiho, I know you enough to know that you don’t like coffee, and you don’t like being at places like this by yourself. And the café your friend’s working at is right across the street, so there’s no reason for you to be here unless…” he trails off on purpose as he looks at her with some kind of teasing smile that she never liked and wishes she never missed.  
  
This is it, the humiliation part that she prepared herself for, except it’s a lot worse when it actually happens. She tries to make up excuses in her head but her train of thoughts just went off track and straight off the ravine into the sea. “I-”  
  
“You’re really so transparent, have you still not realized that?”  
  
Without knowing why, she suddenly feels angered by this unexpected confrontation. And she's never been good at it, so she does what she would always do - she runs.  
  
Except of course Cha Eunwoo wouldn't let her off easily. He follows her out and trails right behind her as she tries her best to get away from him. “Do you want to tell me why you’d been sitting at the table with the best view of the other café?” he questions aloud, causing some passersby to glance at him, then at her. She doesn't answer, so he goes on. “Then do you want to tell me why you asked Chan about Jung Chaeyeon?”  
  
_I’m going to kill Chan_ , she thinks, and quickens her pace. Unfortunately for her, Cha Eunwoo has strong legs so he catches up with her in no time. He stops right in front of her and turns so they're facing each other. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes how close he's standing.  
  
“So tell me, do you have anything that you want to say to me?” he continues, staring right at her. Her stomach clenches, and she really wants to put a stop to this.  
  
"This is stupid, and you're ridiculous,” she bursts out, hands in the air and all, as dramatic as it can get. “My life was so peaceful before but you messed it up. Okay, maybe it was already a mess, but you made it a lot worse. You barged into my life like an uninvited guest and pretty much made yourself at home. But then you left just as suddenly as you came, and now I have no idea what I should do with the space you occupied. And screw you, I don't care if you've found a new home, Cha Eunwoo.”  
  
He's chuckling, eyes turning into the crescent shape, which she really did miss, even though he shouldn’t be entertained by any of this. Jiho is dead serious. If she was only frustrated before this, now she’s frustrated and angry. And she wants to leave, bury herself underneath her blanket, maybe cry a little bit and figure out a way to transfer to another school, but he keeps blocking her way whenever she wants to take a step forward.  
  
“Hey,” he begins, catching her wrist when she tries to turn around and take the other way. “Are you saying I can come back?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Chaeyeon’s not my girlfriend,” he says.  
  
“ _What?_ ”  
  
“She’s not,” he repeats, making it sound like it’s an obvious point. He brushes his nose with a bended finger and then shoves his hands into his pockets. “Well, she’s my friend’s girlfriend, and he goes to a different school but that’s a long story. Anyways,” he pauses, and looks directly into her eyes. “Is there anything you want to tell me now?”  
  
For a long while, she doesn't say anything. Instead she simply stares at him with furrowed brows and jaw slightly dropped. There’s a lot of things she wants to tell him, actually, and many more things she wants to ask, but in the end she settles with the one thing that best represents how she feels all this time. “I really hate you.”  
  
“Okay,” replies him, nodding while closing the gap between them with a step towards her and a smile. “And?”  
  
“I don't want you to smile that stupid smile to other girls.”  
  
He lets out a chuffed laugh. “Alright. Anything else?”  
  
She steps back when he takes another step forward, but then he adds another. He's standing so close to her so all she can see is him and his crescent eyes. Unable to withstand it, she covers her face with both her hands, mutters something, which comes out muffled and unintelligible.  
  
“What did you say?” asks him, removing her hands so he can hear her more clearly.  
  
“I said, I missed you!” she exclaims, finally, then proceeds to groan loudly and cover her face once again, this time using both her hands and her long hair as though doing that would help lessen the blow even by just a bit.  
  
Despite the hint of amusement tugging on the corners of his lips, he doesn’t laugh like he would in normal occasions, probably mindful of her internal pain. Not that she cares at this point. “Why is it so difficult to get you to admit your own feelings?” he asks, reaching out for her hands again.  
  
“I don't know, I hate feelings. My own feelings betrayed me,” she despairs, refusing to meet his eyes.  
  
“You just prefer to suppress your feelings and pretend they don't exist,” he points out, as if she isn't already aware of it. “Does it feel better now that you’ve let them out?”  
  
“Not really,” she answers without much hesitation.  
  
“You’re really hard to please,” he notes.  
  
“Sucks for you.”  
  
“Well, I think I like you enough for that.”  
  
Jiho's eyes widen at that remark and she can feel heat creeping up to her face. She knows he notices that, too, because his grin almost reaches his ears as he takes another step approaching her. “What,” says her, defensively.  
  
“Did you miss that? I said I li-”  
  
She cuts him off by instinctively reaching out her hand to cover his mouth, but quickly releases it and covers her own mouth with the same hand out of surprise. That action hits her a second to late and she's back to hiding her face in shame. “Oh my god.”  
  
“You’re so insufferably cute, did you know that?”  
  
“And you're just _insufferable_. Why do I even like you-” Realizing her mistake, she looks at him, aghast and unable to function for a long, measured moment. “ _Oh. My. God._ ”  
  
She sobs into her hands and continues to mumble “oh my god” like a chant to make herself forget what just happened. On the other hand, possibly the happiest boy on the planet right now, Cha Eunwoo envelopes her in his embrace, tenderly and protectively. And she lets him.  
  
  
  
  
“You’re not dressed like a hobo today,” Mingyu comments.  
  
“I thought we had this conversation before.”  
  
“I thought you said you didn’t like him.” Jiho clicks her tongue and glares at him in annoyance, but he chuckles as they step into the café that's heavily decorated with Christmas ornaments, where Cha Eunwoo’s already waiting with his usual smile.  
  
“You’re early,” Mingyu notes, slumping into the chair across of Jiho who chose the seat to Cha Eunwoo's right.  
  
“Yeah, shouldn’t keep you waiting,” he replies, shrugging nonchalantly with a suppressed grin. While the corners of Jiho’s lips curl, Mingyu narrows his eyes. “I’ll get you two a drink.”  
  
"I’ll go with you,” she announces, quickly leaving the table and Mingyu alone there. 5 minutes before they reach the café, he received a text from her that says her dad is dropping her off and she'll be here very soon.  
  
“He still hates me,” says Cha Eunwoo while they wait for the drinks.  
  
She crosses her arms and tilts her head to a side. “I certainly wouldn't blame him. You make it really easy to hate you.”  
  
“Really? You fell for me anyway.” He grins, enjoying the way her cheeks instantly redden. At least Minkyung isn't on her shift to judge them, although Chaeyeon's boyfriend is there making mocking heart sign whenever he glances his way.  
  
As it turned out, everything was an elaborate plan, thought up by Cha Eunwoo himself. Though it did genuinely upset him that she assumed he was hanging out with her simply to tease her about the whole planner incident, he purposely stopped doing that and asked Chaeyeon for a favour in the meantime. Her actual boyfriend just so happens to be Minkyung's co-worker at the café, so he got her to play along as well.  
  
“This is the worst ever betrayal in my life,” fumed Jiho when she learned of the truth, but with the promise of a week’s worth of free banana smoothies, she was quick to forgive everyone.  
  
“Mingyu was on your side though,” Cha Eunwoo comforted her. She was told later that Mingyu seeked him out without her knowledge, apparently to give him a piece of his mind. “He was actually scary.”  
  
The bells hanging onto the café door chime as someone pushes the door open, just in time as Jiho pushes Mingyu's warm cup of his favourite vanilla latte towards him. It's Mina, who immediately spots them.  
  
“I'm sorry I'm late,” she says, giving all of them a slight bow before settling into the only vacant seat left. Mingyu's face unmistakably lights up as he reassures her that they just got here too, and somehow it reminds Jiho of the time when they got separated for a while at an amusement park when they were kids. Mina smiles at all three of them.  
  
Her family are heading to Tokyo tomorrow to spend the holidays there, which is why they’re meeting today instead. Christmas Eve's eve, Jiho had said.  
  
“Present for you,” says Mina while placing a nicely wrapped box on the table in front of Mingyu, as soon as she seats herself next to him. Then, she places another similar sized box but with a different style of packaging in front of Jiho. “And you. Sorry, none for you.” She adds the last part for Cha Eunwoo.  
  
“Wouldn't expect to get any from you,” he laughed.  
  
Meanwhile, Jiho is looking at Mina in surprise. “But I didn't even prepare any gifts,” she says, feeling genuinely bad that she's completely forgotten about presents despite going on that shopping trip with Mina previously and came here empty-handed.  
  
“It's alright.” Mina gives the sweetest of smile. “You can unwrap your present!”  
  
Jiho's present turns out to be also a scarf like Mingyu's, the one that she helped pick out. But unlike his, the scarf that Mina chose for her is crimson red in colour. And both scarves have the same plaids pattern, so they look like a pair.  
  
“I heard twins always wear matching things,” Mina adds, seeming pleased with her choice.  
  
“When they're kids,” Mingyu shoots her down, though unintentionally. He looks apologetic enough, and fortunately for him she doesn't seem to be wounded and simply laughs. He definitely doesn't deserve her, Jiho thinks.  
  
“We should leave now,” says Cha Eunwoo, reminding her of their plan for the evening.  
  
“Right.” She carefully places the scarf back inside the box, tucks it into her bag and gets up. “See you later!”  
  
Mingyu waves them off almost too excitedly that she would have felt offended. But she just laughs now as she and Cha Eunwoo step out.  
  
“You two look friendly,” he comments, referring to Mina.  
  
“Shut up.” Jiho shoves his shoulder lightly, and his eyes crinkle with joy and twinkle under all the bright, colourful lights.  
  
“You know, you never called me by my name,” he remarks all of a sudden. “Just my name, I mean. You always use my full name so that made me question if you really find me that uncomfortable.”  
  
She frowns. “Oh, I never realized that.” Which hits her now that she thinks back, she never actually addressed him by anything other than his full name even when she's speaking to him.  
  
“Try it now,” he suggests.  
  
“What? No, it's embarrassing to do it so suddenly.”  
  
“Come on! You didn't even prepare a present like Mina did.”  
  
“Are you comparing us now?” Jiho stops on her tracks and scowls at him.  
  
“Maybe I am,” answers him with no hesitation.  
  
“God, you're really impossible,” she says, then lets her lips stretch into a smile as she adds: “Eunwoo.”  
  
He can't hide his happiness and can't stop smiling. “That sounds much better,” he beams, taking her hand and slipping it into a pocket of his coat with their fingers intertwined. It feels warm.


End file.
